CHAPTER IV
_How Small Porges in looking for a fortune for another, found an Unclefor Himself instead_
The meeting of George Bellew and Small Porges, (as he afterward came tobe called), was sudden, precipitate, and wholly unexpected; and itbefell on this wise:
Bellew had opened his knap-sack, had fished thence cheese, clasp-knife,and a crusty loaf of bread, and, having exerted himself so far, hadfallen a thinking or a dreaming, in his characteristic attitude,i.e.:--on the flat of his back, when he was aware of a crash in thehedge above, and then, of something that hurtled past him, all arms andlegs, that rolled over two or three times, and eventually brought up ina sitting posture; and, lifting a lazy head, Bellew observed that it wasa boy. He was a very diminutive boy with a round head covered withcoppery curls, a boy who stared at Bellew out of a pair of very round,blue eyes, while he tenderly cherished a knee, and an elbow. He had beenon the brink of tears for a moment, but meeting Bellew's quizzical gaze,he manfully repressed the weakness, and, lifting the small, and somewhatweather-beaten cap that found a precarious perch at the back of hiscurly head, he gravely wished Bellew "Good afternoon!"
"Well met, my Lord Chesterfield!" nodded Bellew, returning the salute,"are you hurt?"
"Just a bit--on the elbow; but my name's George."
"Why--so is mine!" said Bellew.
"Though they call me 'Georgy-Porgy.'"
"Of course they do," nodded Bellew, "they used to call me the same, onceupon a time,--
Georgy Porgy, pudding and pie Kissed the girls, and made them cry,
though I never did anything of the kind,--one doesn't do that sort ofthing when one is young,--and wise, that comes later, and brings its owncare, and--er--heart-break." Here Bellew sighed, and hacked a piece fromthe loaf with the clasp-knife. "Are you hungry, Georgy Porgy?" heenquired, glancing up at the boy who had risen, and was removing some ofthe soil and dust from his small person with his cap.
"Yes I am."
"Then here is bread, and cheese, and bottled stout,--so fall to, goodcomrade."
"Thank you, but I've got a piece of bread an' jam in my bundle,--"
"Bundle?"
"I dropped it as I came through the hedge, I'll get it," and as hespoke, he turned, and, climbing up the bank, presently came back with avery small bundle that dangled from the end of a very long stick, andseating himself beside Bellew, he proceeded to open it. There, sureenough, was the bread and jam in question, seemingly a little the worsefor wear and tear, for Bellew observed various articles adhering to it,amongst other things, a battered penknife, and a top. These, however,were readily removed, and Georgy Porgy fell to with excellent appetite.
"And pray," enquired Bellew, after they had munched silently together,some while, "pray where might you be going?"
"I don't know yet," answered Georgy Porgy with a shake of his curls.
"Good again!" exclaimed Bellew, "neither do I."
"Though I've been thinking of Africa," continued his diminutivecompanion, turning the remain of the bread and jam over and overthoughtfully.
"Africa!" repeated Bellew, staring, "that's quite a goodish step fromhere."
"Yes," sighed Georgy Porgy, "but, you see, there's gold there, oh, lotsof it! they dig it out of the ground with shovels, you know. Old Adamtold me all 'bout it; an' it's gold I'm looking for, you see, I'm tryingto find a fortune."
"I--er--beg your pardon--?" said Bellew.
"Money, you know," explained Georgy Porgy with a patient sigh, "pounds,an' shillings, an' bank-notes--in a sack if I can get them."
"And what does such a very small Georgy Porgy want so much money for?"
"Well, it's for my Auntie, you know, so she won't have to sell herhouse, an' go away from Dapplemere. She was telling me, last night, whenI was in bed,--she always comes to tuck me up, you know, an' she told meshe was 'fraid we'd have to sell Dapplemere an' go to live somewhereelse. So I asked why, an' she said ''cause she hadn't any money,' an''Oh Georgy!' she said, 'oh Georgy, if we could only find enough money topay off the--the--'"
"Mortgage?" suggested Bellew, at a venture.
"Yes,--that's it, but how did you know?"
"Never mind how, go on with your tale, Georgy Porgy."
"'If--we could only find enough money, or somebody would leave us afortune,' she said,--an' she was crying too, 'cause I felt a tear fallon me, you know. So this morning I got up, awful' early, an' made myselfa bundle on a stick,--like Dick Whittington had when he left home, an' Istarted off to find a fortune."
"I see," nodded Bellew.
"But I haven't found anything--yet," said Georgy Porgy, with a longsigh, "I s'pose money takes a lot of looking for, doesn't it?"
"Sometimes," Bellew answered. "And do you live alone with your Auntiethen, Georgy Porgy?"
"Yes;--most boys live with their mothers, but that's where I'mdifferent, I don't need one 'cause I've got my Auntie Anthea."
"Anthea!" repeated Bellew, thoughtfully. Hereupon they fell silent,Bellew watching the smoke curl up from his pipe into the warm, stillair, and Georgy Porgy watching him with very thoughtful eyes, and asomewhat troubled brow, as if turning over some weighty matter in hismind; at last, he spoke:
"Please," said he, with a sudden diffidence, "where do you live?"
"Live," repeated Bellew, smiling, "under my hat,--here, there, andeverywhere, which means--nowhere in particular."
"But I--I mean--where is your home?"
"My home," said Bellew, exhaling a great cloud of smoke, "my home liesbeyond the 'bounding billow."
"That sounds an awful' long way off."
"It _is_ an awful' long way off."
"An' where do you sleep while--while you're here?"
"Anywhere they'll let me. To-night I shall sleep at some inn, I suppose,if I can find one, if not,--under a hedge, or hay-rick."
"Oh!--haven't you got any home of your own, then,--here?"
"No."
"And--you're not going home just yet,--I mean across the 'boundingbillow?'"
"Not yet."
"Then--please--" the small boy's voice was suddenly tremulous and eager,and he laid a little, grimy hand upon Bellew's sleeve, "please--if itisn't too much trouble--would you mind coming with me--to--to help me tofind the fortune?--you see, you are so very big, an'--Oh!--willyou please?"
George Bellew sat up suddenly, and smiled; Bellew's smile was, at alltimes, wonderfully pleasant to see, at least, the boy thought so.
"Georgy Porgy," said he, "you can just bet your small life, I will,--andthere's my hand on it, old chap." Bellew's lips were solemn now, but allthe best of his smile seemed, somehow, to have got into his gray eyes.So the big hand clasped the small one, and as they looked at each other,there sprang up a certain understanding that was to be an enduring bondbetween them.
"I think," said Bellew, as he lay, and puffed at his pipe again, "Ithink I'll call you Porges, it's shorter, easier, and I think,altogether apt; I'll be Big Porges, and you shall be Small Porges,--whatdo you say?"
"Yes, it's lots better than Georgy Porgy," nodded the boy. And so SmallPorges he became, thenceforth. "But," said he, after a thoughtful pause,"I think, if you don't mind, I'd rather call you----Uncle Porges. Yousee, Dick Bennet--the black-smith's boy, has three uncles an' I've onlygot a single aunt,--so, if you don't mind--"
"Uncle Porges it shall be, now and for ever, Amen!" murmured Bellew.
"An' when d'you s'pose we'd better start?" enquired Small Porges,beginning to re-tie his bundle.
"Start where, nephew?"
"To find the fortune."
"Hum!" said Bellew.
"If we could manage to find some,--even if it was only a very little, itwould cheer her up so."
"To be sure it would," said Bellew, and, sitting up, he pitched loaf,cheese, and clasp-knife back into the knap-sack, fastened it, slung itupon his shoulders, and rising, took up his stick.
"Come on, my Porges," said he, "and, whatever you do--keep your 'weathereye' on your uncle."<
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"Where do you s'pose we'd better look first?" enquired Small Porges,eagerly.
"Why, first, I think we'd better find your Auntie Anthea."
"But,--" began Porges, his face falling.
"But me no buts, my Porges," smiled Bellew, laying his hand upon hisnew-found nephew's shoulder, "but me no buts, boy, and, as I saidbefore,--just keep your eye on your uncle."